Local heat treating question

[gerogejg]

I live in deerfield Florida and a few miles away from me there is a small heat treating shop and I have a 52100 blades that I would like to get hardened .my question is can I take my blade to any heatreating place and get good results or is it a better idea to send it to better known places like Paul Bos or peters .I've used both in the past but I think getting it done locally would be better .

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

The best thing to do is print out your HT specs - Austenitization temp, cryo if desired, and desired final Rc after two tempers. Take it and a few blades to the HTer and ask him if he is comfortable with the regime, and if he is familiar with hardening knives. Ask for the blades to be hardness tested on the tang and the results noted on the receipt.

When done, test the knives well and see how the edge holds up, etc. If all is good and the price was right, stick with them. If not, there are many places that do knives all day long.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

The best thing to do is print out your HT specs - Austenitization temp, cryo if desired, and desired final Rc after two tempers. Take it and a few blades to the HTer and ask him if he is comfortable with the regime, and if he is familiar with hardening knives. Ask for the blades to be hardness tested on the tang and the results noted on the receipt.

When done, test the knives well and see how the edge holds up, etc. If all is good and the price was right, stick with them. If not, there are many places that do knives all day long.